Sevens Women’s GPS - Russia in Pole Position for Rio

14/06/2015 - 21/07/2015

After a very competitive round of final matches in Kazan (Russia) in the 1st leg of the series, Russia are in pole position for Rio (and for retaining the European Championship) after a very close 19-15 victory over France.

France are now positioned favorably for the automatic World Olympic Repechage for qualification to Rio and of course still in contention for direct qualification. They will of course be hoping that home advantage on the 20-21 June (Malemort) will boost their Rio chances. In the match for 3rd place, England beat Spain in another close confrontation 12-7, which will see Spain hot on the heels of Russia and France in Malemort, for a ticket to Rio. There were victories for Ireland (over the Netherlands) and Italy (over Wales) in their ranking matches which will put them in favorable positions for being part of the WSWS Qualifier later in the year, as well as still seem them hunting qualification opportunities for Rio. In the bottom third of the competition, Ukraine and Germany will be mainly focused with Scotland and Portugal on avoiding relegation to Division “A” of the European Championship in 2016. However, a 9th place for Scotland see them in a strong position for staying up and perhaps also still hopeful for a WSWS Qualification place.

The pools for Malemort will be drawn at the Kazan Tournament Banquet on the evening of the 14th June.